The Connecticut legislature passed Connecticut SB 6 on April 28, 2022.  If signed by the governor, the bill would take effect on July 1, 2023, though the task force created by the bill will be required to begin work sooner.

The bill closely resembles the Colorado Privacy Act, with a few notable additions.  Like the Colorado Privacy Act, the bill adopts “controller” and “processor” terminology, provides consumers with rights to access, correct, delete, obtain a copy, and opt-out of certain types of processing of their personal data, and requires consent for certain activities.

Scope of the Bill’s Requirements

The bill’s requirements would apply to persons conducting business in Connecticut or persons that produce products or services that are targeted to residents of Connecticut that meet certain thresholds:

1. Controlled or processed the personal data of not less than 100,000 consumers, excluding personal data controlled or processed solely for the purpose of completing a payment transaction, or
2. Controlled or processed the personal data of not less than 25,000 consumers and derived more than 25% of their gross revenue from the sale of personal data.

The bill explicitly exempts nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, financial institutions or data subject to the GLBA, or HIPAA covered entities or business associates.  The bill also exempts business-to-business and employee data from the definition of “consumer.”

Consumer Rights

The bill would provide consumers with the ability to (1) confirm whether or not a controller is processing personal data, (2) access their personal data in a portable format, (3) correct inaccuracies in their personal data, (3) delete personal data “provided by, or obtained about,” them, and (4) obtain a copy of the consumer’s personal data processed by the controller in a portable format.  Controllers must also establish a process for consumers to appeal a denial of their rights request.  However, the bill includes some exceptions to these consumer rights, including where compliance with an access or portability request would require the controller to reveal a trade secret.

The bill would provide consumers with a right to opt-out of the processing of the consumer’s personal data for “targeted advertising,” “sale,” or “profiling,” with these terms defined in a way that tracks the Colorado Privacy Act.  Additionally, controllers would be required to obtain consent prior to processing sensitive data, and consent may not be obtained through acceptance to terms and conditions or through the use of dark patterns.  Notably, the Connecticut bill would require that controllers provide consumers with an “effective mechanism” to revoke consent, which must be ‘at least as easy as the mechanism by which the consumer provided consent.”

13-16 Year Olds

Unlike the Colorado Privacy Act, the Connecticut bill would require that a controller “not process the personal data of a consumer for purposes of targeted advertising, or sell the consumer’s personal data without the consumer’s consent,” where a controller has actual knowledge, and willfully disregards that the consumer is at least 13 years old, but under 16 years old.

Enforcement

The bill would be enforced by the attorney general.  Although there is no rulemaking authority created by the statute, the bill would require a task force that must study certain topics including, information sharing among health care providers and social care providers, algorithmic decision-making and bias, age verification for social media accounts, among other topics.